Just as much asThe Twilight Zonefans expected a great twist ending or shocking outcome from each outing’s story, it wasalways expected to get an insightful opening and closing narration from Rod Serling each episode. The sci-fi genius took on various on and off-screen roles that made him synonymous with the series’ legacy, withRod Serling writing many ofThe Twilight Zone’s best episodesin addition to being the show’s iconic creator and host.
Being one of few consistencies across the anthology series’ outings, Rod Serling’s hosting scenes are responsible for many ofThe Twilight Zone’s most iconic details. These primarily come from his episodic narration, such as his “Submitted for your approval” and “Next stop, the Twilight Zone” lines, so it was shocking thatoneThe Twilight Zoneseason 4 episode finally made an unprecedented change to this aspectof Serling’s typical hosting duties.
“Jess-Belle” Is The Only Original Twilight Zone Episode With No Closing Narration From Rod Serling
Season 4, Episode 7 Jumps Directly From The Story Ending To Next Week’s Introduction
After more than 100 episodes ofThe Twilight Zone, the series made a surprising change by making season 4, episode 7,“Jess-Belle,” the first and only episode without a closing narration by Rod Serling. However, the show creator still performed a particularly memorable opening narration for “Jess-Belle:”
“The Twilight Zone has existed in many lands in many times. It has its roots in history, in something that happened long, long ago and got told about and handed down from one generation of folk to the other. In the telling the story gets added to and embroidered on, so that what might have happened in the time of the Druids is told as if it took place yesterday in the Blue Rigde Mountains. Such stories are best told by an elderly grandfather on a cold winter’s night by the fireside in the southern hills of the Twilight Zone.”
Theabsence of a closing narration for the episode made “Jess-Belle” feel somewhat incomplete, as Serling’s voice at the end of each outing helped to symbolically pull viewers themselves out of the Twilight Zone. Every other episode ends with Serling musing on the episode’s themes before introducing next week’s story, but “Jess-Belle” abruptly jumps from the mysterious ending to Serling introducingThe Twilight Zoneepisode “Miniature.”
The logline for “Jess-Belle” reads: “Appalachian beauty Jess-Belle can’t bear to lose the object of her passion to the local rich girl, so she turns to the local witch for aid. The results bring unexpected and tragic consequences.”
“Jess-Belle” still ended with closing words reflecting on the story, but they didn’t come from Rod Serling. Instead,the episode concluded with the lyrics to a folk song heard earlier in the outing: “Fair was Elly Glover/Dark was Jess-Belle./Both they loved the same man/And both they loved him well.”
Perhaps cutting out Serling’s closing narration would have been less memorable had it not been done to one of the best episodes. “Jess-Belle,” which puts a Southern witch twist on the “Jezebel” archetype, isregarded as one of the show’s strongest and most unique outings, making the missing voiceover more notable than it might be on a less well-regarded andrewatchableThe Twilight Zoneepisode.
Why Rod Serling Didn’t Give A Closing Narration For “Jess-Belle”
The Twilight Zone Season 4 Was Hit With Some Major Changes
The decision to cut out closing narration for “Jess-Belle” followed some substantial changes made toThe Twilight Zoneseason 4’s production. Unlike the series’ other installments,The Twilight Zoneseason 4’s episodes were an hour long, an increasefrom the previous seasons’ half-hour entries.
The longer runtimes meant Rod Serling was spending even more time writing and producing episodes, which leftless space in his schedule to fly to the studio to film his opening and closing narration segments. There’s no official statement on why “Jess-Belle,” specifically, was chosen as the episode to avoid closing narration, but it may also be related to the episode’s script requiring a seven-day turnaround.
Ultimately,The Twilight Zoneconfirmed how essential Serling’s closing narration wasto the series by the following installment. Throughout the rest of season 4 and across the entirety ofThe Twilight Zoneseason 5,every subsequent episode’s story ended with a fitting voiceover by Rod Serling.
